Apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes.



LE BARON C. COLT.

APPARATUS FOR VARNISHING RUBBER SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-18,1909.

Patented May 8, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESEEE. 3

ATTDFQNEY.

LE BARON C. COLT.

APPARATUS FOR VARNISHING RUBBER SHOES.

APPLICATION-FILED JA N.18. 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES;

Patented May 8, 1917.

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Ln BARON 0. com, or BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL INDIARUBBER COMPANY, A. CORPORATION or RHODE ISLAND.

APPARATUS FOR VARNISHING RUBBER SHOES.

Lea ers.

Application filed January 18, 1909.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, LE BARON C. Cor/r, of Bristol, in the county ofBristol and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Varnishing Rubber Shoes; and I do herebydeclare the following specification, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of the same, to be a full, clear,and exact description thereof.

In the manufacture of rubber shoes it is customary to apply to-theexterior thereof a coat of varnish to give to the finished shoe a glossyand attractive appearance. Heretofore this coat of varnish has beenapplied in one of two ways, viz., either by means of a brush or bydipping the lasted shoe 1n a receptacle containing a quantity of liquldvarnish. With each of these ways hand manipulation is required, theoperation is comparatively slow and the cost correspondingly great.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for varnishing rubbershoes, whichembodies means for causing a shoe or a series of shoes totravel past one or more discharge outlets, and in causing the liquidvarnish to be discharged from said discharge outlets upon the shoe orshoes, as they are carried past said outlets.

The invention consists in an apparatus embodying a traveling carriage orconveyer adapted to receive and carry along a series of lasted shoes,and a series of discharge outlets arranged to discharge the varnish upondifferent parts of the shoes asthey are carried along by said travelingcarriage or conveyer past said discharge outlet, whereby the entireouter surface of the shoe will be covered with a coat of varnish.

The invention further consists in the combination, with such travelingcarriage or conveyor and series of discharge outlets, of means formaintaining a circulation of varnish, whereby a continuous discharge ofvarnish from said discharge outlets will be provided and whereby thesurplus varnish will be collected and returned to the source of supply.

The invention will be described in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate the apparatus as designed and adapted tocarry out the novel method of. varnishing} rubber shoes.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 1. 1917.

Serial No. 472,807.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a plan view, and

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on an enlarged scale on the line mm, Fig.1.

The frame of the apparatus comprises the standards 1, cross-bars 2, twoupper longi tudinal rails 3, 3, and two lower longitudinal rails 1, L.To each of the four longitudinal rails is secured an angle iron 5, saidangle irons constituting suitable tracks for the conveyer chains.Mounted in bearings at one end of this frame is a driving shaft 6provided with fast and loose pulleys 7 and .8. Mounted in bearings attheopposite end of the machine is a shaft 9. The driving shaft 6 isprovided with two sprocket wheels 10, 11, and the shaft 9 is providedwith two corresponding sprocket wheels 12, 13. Passing around thesesprocket wheels andextending from one end of the machine to the otherare two endless conveyor chains or link belts 14:, 15, arranged to rideupon the tracks 5. Secured to these conveyer chains at suitableintervals and extending crosswise of the machine are supports or holders16. Each of these supports or holders is provided near one end with twotransverse grooves 0r recesses 17 adapted to receive and hold the endsof the sticks 18, upon which the lasted shoes are carried and supported.If desired, each support or holder may have only a single groove 17extending the entire width of said cross-bar, but it is preferred toprovide two grooves separated by an intervening partition as shown, assuch partition constitutes means to prevent endwise movement of thesticks in said holders. Each of said sticks 18 is provided with a seriesof pins 19, two for'each last, adapted to enter holes in the last 20upon which the shoe 21 is held. As shown in the drawings, each stick 18carries eight shoes or four pairs.

Arranged between and extending a suitable distance below the upper rails3, 3, is a trough 22, 'preferably extending the entire or for a greaterpart of the length of the machine, said trough being arranged to receivethe surplus varnish which flows upon the shoes as well as the varnishwhich drips therefrom as they are carried along by the conveyer chains.

23 represents a tank or receptacle adapted to receive a quantity ofvarnish. In the drawings the tank is for convenience shown as locatedadjacent to the machine, but it will be understood that said tank may belocated at any desired point remote from the machine and, if desired,even in a separate building. A suction pipe 24 leads from said tank to apump 25. As shown this pump is operated by a belt 26 extending from apulley 27 on the shaft 9 to a pulley 28 on the pump-shaft. As will beunderstood, however, said pump may-be operated in any other suitableway.

Leading from the pump 25 is a delivery pipe 29. In the drawings threedischarge outlets for discharging the varnish upon the shoes as they arecarried along ,are shown, one main outlet arranged above the shoes, andtwo supplemental outlets. C011 necting lwith the pipe 29 are two branchpipes 30 and 31. The branch pipe 30 extends upward and inward and hassecured thereto the main outlet 32 which is thus located above the shoesas they are carried along and above the trough 22. Said main outlet 32is shown as provided on its under side with an elongated slot 33,through which the varnish will be discharged more or less in sheet formupon the upper at the heel of the shoe. ';If desired, in place of' theelongated slot, said outlet 32 may be provided with a series of smallholes or perforations. A' valveor pet-cock 34 is provided to control thedischarge from said outlet 32.

The branch pipe 31 extends downward and is carried across beneath thetrough 22 and upward on the opposite side of said trough. To thedownwardly extending portion of the branch pipe 31 is connected adischarge outlet 35 which extends through a suitable opening in the sidewall of the trough 22. Said discharge outlet 35 .is 'pro-' vided with avalve or pet-cock 36 for controlling the discharge therefrom. Thisdischarge outlet 35 is shown as arranged to discharge the varnishagainst the sole of the shoe in front .of the heel. To the upwardlyextending portion of the branch pipe 31 on the opposite side of thetrough is a dis: charge outlet 37 which likewise extends through asuitable opening in the opposite side wall of the trough 22. Saiddischarge outlet 37, which is provided vwith a suitablecontrolling'valve or pet cook 38, is shown as arranged to discharge thevarnish against the upper of the shoe'at the instep. A pipe.

39 leads from the bottom of the trough 22 back to the tank 23. Leadingfrom the pipe 29 is another branch pipe 40 which leads back to the tank23. This pipe 40 is preferably provided with an automatic relief valve41. Preferably also the lower end of the suction pipe 24 is providedwith a strainer 42. When a circulation of the varnish is to bemaintainedthe strainer may be located at some other point in thecirculating system,'or more than one strainer may.

be employed.

The operation of the apparatus above described in carrying out themethod of varnishing rubber shoes is as follows: Power being applied byshifting the driving belt on to the fast pulley 7, the endless conveyerchains are set in motion and caused to travel continuously in thedirection of the arrows in Fig.1. Rotation is thereby imparted to elingholders 16, said sticks'with the shoes.

thereon being introduced at the left hand end of the machine, Figs. 1and 2, and when so introducedbeing located and arranged as shown in Fig.2 and following each other in close succession as they are carried alongin said holders. As shown in Fig. 3, the shoes as they travel along arecarried betweenthe discharge outlets 32, 35, and 37 and in properrelation thereto, and so that the varnish discharged from said outletswill be] discharged against the several, portions of the shoe ashereinbefore explained and as clearly shown in. Fig. 3. 'The varnish sodischarged upon the shoe flows over the sev-- eral portions thereof,leaving an even and uniform coating over the entire shoe, whilethesurplus flows down into the trough 22, whence it flows through the pipe39 back to the tank 23.,

The quantity of varnish to be discharged from the outlets 32, 35 and 37may be independently regulated by opening or closingv the valves 34, 36,38 to a greater or less ex tent, as may be found desirable. When.- everany one or more of these valves is adjusted so that the quantity ofvarnish supplied by. the pump is greater than the quantity which can bedelivered from theoutlets, v

therelief valve 41 will automaticallyopen and thus permit-the'surplus toflow back through the pipe 40 into the/tank.

The machine is preferably made of a suit able length so that when astick of shoes has passed by the discharge outlets it will be carriedalong by the conveyer a greater or less distance to enable the surplusvarnish to drip therefrom into the trough 22, and so that such drippingswill be thereby collected and returned to the tank.

The next operation to be performed upon these rubber shoes. after theyhave been varnished is the operation of vulcanizing. If desired, themachine as a WhOle may be made of a suflicient length to extend from thevarnishing room to the vulcanizing room, and so that said machine, inaddition to the varnishing of the shoes, may be made to serve thefurther purpose of transporting or conveying the varnished shoes fromone room to the other or direct to the vulcanizing chamber. Wherever theend of the machine may be located the successive sticks of varnishedshoes, before they reach the end of the machine, are removed by anattendant, one after the other, and disposed of as may be desired. Ifthe machine is constructed to lead direct to the vulcanizing chamber, asabove suggested, then the successive sticks of shoes may, as they aretaken from the machine, be placed directly upon the racks in thevulcanizing chamber.

As will be seen. the characteristic feature of the method of varnishingrubber shoes above described consists in causing the shoe or shoessto bevarnished to travel past discharge outlets from which the varnish isdischarged upon and flows over the outer surface of the shoe, and sothat a coat of varnish is deposited upon the entire outer surface of theshoe, as distinguished from applying the varnish by means of a brush orby dipping the shoe in a receptacle containing a quantity of varnish, asheretofore.

In practice it has been found that with this method of varnishing rubbershoes, not only is the varnish uniformly distributed over the surface ofthe shoe so as to provide an even and uniform coating, but in additionthe discharge of the varnish upon, and its flow over, the surface of theshoe serves to wash away, as it were, or remove any dust or lint thatmay have accumulated thereon, and so that the finished surface isthereby rendered smooth and free from imperfections.

It is preferred to carry the shoes past the discharge outlets with theheel portions upward, as shown in the drawings, whereby the flow of thevarnish downward is toward and off from the toe of the shoe, as sucharrangement has been found to secure the best results and also serves topractically prevent the varnish from reaching any portion of the liningof the shoe, which is more or less objectionable The shoes may, however,as they are carried past the discharge outlets, occupy any otherposition that may be desired, and in such case it will be understoodthat said discharge outlets will be arranged with relation to the shoeaccording to the position which the shoe occupies as it is carried pastsaid outlets.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for yarnishing rubber shoes having in combination acarrier adapted to receive and carry along the shoe to be varnished, andmeans for causing a stream of varnish to flow over said shoe as it iscarried along by said carrier, whereby any lint or other matter upon theshoe is carried off by the flowing varnishf 2. An apparatus forvarnishing rubber Shoes having incombination a carrier adapted toreceive and carry along the shoe to be varnished, and means for causingseparate streams of varnish to flow over difierent portions of said shoeas it is carried along by said carrier.

3. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having incombination acarrier adapted to receive and carry, along a series of shoes, and meansfor causing a stream of varnish to flow over successive shoes as theyare carried along by said carrier, whereby any lint or other matter upontheshoe' is carried 03 by the flowing varnish.

4. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination acarrier adaptgag ed to receive and carry along a. series of.

shoes, and means for causing separate streams of varnish to flow overdifferent portions of said shoes as they are carried along by saldcarrier. Y

5. An' apparatus for varnishing rubbershoes having in combination acarrier adapted to receive and carry along a series of shoes with theirheel portions upward, and

meansfor causing a stream of varnish to flow over successive shoes asthey are carried along by said carrier.

6. An apparatus for varnishing rubbershoes having in combination acarrier adapted to receive and carry along a series of shoes with theirheel portions upward, and means for causing separate streams of varnishto flow over difierent portions of said shoes as they are carried alongby said carrier.

7. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination acarrier adapted to receive and carry along a. series of shoes, and meansfor causing an elongated stream of varnish to flow over successive shoesas they are-carried along by said carrier.

' 8. An apparatus for varnishing rubbershoes having in combination acarrier adapted. to receive and carry along a series of shoes, means forcausing an elongated stream of varnish to flow over a portion of eachsuccessive shoe, and means for ca separate streams of varnish to flowover other portions of said shoes as they are carried along by saidcarrier.

9. An apparatus for ya I It; shoes having in combination a carre adaptedtoreceive and carry along a stick' of shoes, and means for causing a.stream of varnish to flow over successive shoes as the stick of shoes iscarried aloiig by said carrier. i

10. An apparatus for varnishing rubber oeshaving in combination a ier gt ed to receive and carry along a series of with their heel portionsupward, and means for causing a stream of varnish to flow oversuccessive shoes as the stick of shoes is carried along by said carrier.

12. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination acarrier adapted to receive and carry along a stick of shoes with theirheel portions upward, means for causing an elongated stream of varnishto flow upon the heel portions of successive shoes, and means forcausing separate streams of varnish to flow upon other portions of saidshoes as the stick of shoes is carried along by said carrier.

13. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination acarrier adapted to receive and carry along successive sticks of shoes,with the heel portions of said shoes upward, a main discharge outletarranged above the path of said shoes, and supplemental outlet arrangedat one side of said path.

14. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination adischarge out let and a carrier provided with laterally extendingholders adapted to receive and hold a stick of shoes, the parts being soarranged that the carrier takes the. shoes through the path of thedischarge from the discharge outlet.

15. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination adischarge outlet and a carrier provided with laterally extending holdersadapted to receive and support a stick of shoes longitudinally of thecarrier.

16. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination adischarge outlet and a carrier provided with a series of laterallyextending holders, each of said holders being provided with twoseparated grooves, one adapted to receive the end of one stick of shoesand the other to receive the end of the next stick in series.

17. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoeshaving in combination acarrier adapts ed to receive and carry along a series of shoes, meansfor causing a stream of varnish to flow over successive shoes as theyare carried along by said carrier, means for maintaining a circulationof varnish, and a strainer for straining the varnish as it circulates.

18. An apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes having in combination acarrier adapted to receive and carry along a series of shoes, means forcausing a stream of varnish to flow over successive shoes as they arecarried along by said carrier, a tank for the varnish, means formaintaining a circulation of varnish from and to said tank, and astrainer located in the circulating system.

19. In an apparatus for varnishing rubher shoes, the combination of acarrier adaptedto receive and carry along successive sticks of shoes,with the heel portions of said shoes upward, and a series of dischargeoutlets arranged to discharge the varnish upon different portions of thesuccessive shoes as th sticks upon which they are mounted are carriedalong by said carrier.

20. In an apparatus for varnishing rubber shoes, the combination of acarrier adapted to receive and carry along successive sticks of shoes,with the heel portions of said shoes upward, a main discharge out letarranged above the path of said' shoes, and a supplemental outletarranged at one side of said path. '21. An apparatus for varnishingrubber shoes comprising a discharge outlet and a carrier provided with aseries of laterally extending holders, each of said holders beingprovided with two separated grooves, one adapted to receive the end ofone stick of shoes and the other to receivethe end of thenext stick inseries.

, LE BARON C. COLT. WVitnesses:

W. H. TH RsroN, J H. THURs'roN.

